County attempt unitary takeover
Friday 28 September was the deadline for responses to the Government consultation paper on how to implement the (probable) forthcoming creation of a single unitary council for the whole of County Durham.
Two issues were particularly important to me and the Lib Dem group at County Hall - the timing of elections and the make-up of a Joint Board to oversee the preparations.
On timing, the Labour County Council went out on a limb and asked for elections in May 2009 after the start of the new council on 1 April that year. Everyone else wants May 2008 to give democratic legitimacy to the process.
If elections are in May 2008, existing County Councillors (including me) will have to retire a year early and stand for re-election. I am sure my Labour colleagues cannot have made their decision based on the possibility of losing a year’s service (and income) …
On the Joint Board, Labour at County Hall want an 18 member committee dominated by (guess who) them. The Government document asks for this body to be broadly representative of the political balance across the County. Labour’s proposal falls far short of that.
So we in the Lib Dem Group at County Hall have put in a strongly argued case against these attempts by Labour to hijack the process for their own purposes.
Local Government re-organisation should be done for the benefit of everyone, not just the Labour party.
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